Origin

Universe

Creators

Contents

History

Doctor Jivan Shi was a psychological therapist working out of a special facility in the desert of Arizona. There he met a young woman named Summer Day – a patient suffering from a bizarre variant of lycanthropy, which transformed her into a were-hyena. Jivan worked with Summer for many months and helped her to suppress the emotional triggers that prompted the transformation into the Hyena. Over time, Summer's condition improved and the two became romantically involved. One evening in the throes of passion, Summer reverted to her Hyena state and bit Dr. Shi across the throat. She passed the curse along to him and within days he too transformed into a were-hyena.

Doctor Shi and Summer kept their conditions a secret from the general populace. He eventually relocated her to the Eastside Hospital in Manhattan, New York. While employed at Eastside, Jivan worked under the chief resident, Dr. Barry Gleason. Gleason was an arrogant, bitter man and treated Dr. Shi as a second-class citizen. Shi suspected that Gleason resented him because he was a foreigner.

His rage towards Gleason and other members of the Eastside staff grew, and before long he willfully allowed his Hyena persona to take control of him. He began rampaging throughout the hospital and ultimately came into conflict with the super-hero known as Firestorm.

The Hyena evaded capture and eventually learned that one-half of Firestorm's secret identity belonged to a teenager named Ronnie Raymond. He tracked Raymond to Summer Day's home and raked his claws across the back of Ronnie's neck. This act transmitted the curse onto Ronnie, but with strange permutations. The curse did not affect Ronnie directly, but instead took root in the Firestorm entity. Firestorm did not transform into a were-hyena directly, but slowly evolved into one over the course of several nights.

Believing Firestorm no longer posed a threat to him, the Hyena resumed his attacks against Eastside. He kidnapped Dr. Gleason with the intent of ultimately killing him. Firestorm tracked him down once again and the two adversaries fought each other on the roof of the World Trade Center.

By this point, Summer Day had developed a small measure of control over her transformations and she was able to maintain her intellect while in her were-hyena form. She transformed into the Hyena and ran to the World Trade Center to assist Firestorm. The two were-hyenas engaged in a massive fight with Firestorm caught in the middle. During the melee, Firestorm accidentally blasted Summer off of the roof of the building and had to abandon his fight with Dr. Shi in order to save her. Dr. Shi took advantage of the hero's distraction and escaped.

Secret Society

Hyena joined Lex Luthor's Secret Society, under the command of Deathstroke and among one of his first missions, he was sent to Gotham City to aid the new recruit and crime lord, Black Mask on his war against Red Hood. During the fight, Hyena was dosed with tranquilizer darts that put him to sleep. However, he was then dosed with an adrenaline injection that caused him to go berserk. Batman attacked Hyena with a piece of clothing from Count Vertigo, who was Hyena's partner and caused Hyena to attack Vertigo, failing his mission.[1]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Therianthropy: Under moments of emotional duress, Dr. Jivan Shi has the ability to transform into a were-hyena.

Abilities

Weaknesses

Power Loss: Especially in his early days, Shi had difficulties controlling his transformation, and would transform back if knocked out.

Notes

Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.

The Hyena's exact size is unknown, but it has been stated that he is slightly larger than that of the original Hyena, Summer Day.

This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Firestorm and any of his supporting cast or members of the Firestorm Matrix. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Firestorm Villains category."